Spiffy:

Iffy:

Occasional quirks in combat; Quick Draw is inconveniently slow at first; 360 version looks like a port.

The first thing that's going to catch unsuspecting gamers off guard about Activision and Neversoft's upcoming GUN is how violent it is. It's actually quite disarming, no pun intended. Yet, it feels less like a "murder simulator" and more like an account of some of the violence associated with a period of American history that's oft romanticized. People moan as they crouch over in defeat. People cry out that it's their last moment. Some of them even try to get off one last shot in death. This new title from the team that has dropped a Tony Hawk game every year since 1999 is about as far as anyone can get from Dogtown. We got a chance to check it out recently during Activision's press day in San Francisco, and what we saw was a decently likeable, blood-spattered paean to a glorified period in America.

The game opens in post-Columbian America, circa the late 1500s. It's Coronado's Conquest. Spanish travelers are traversing the terrain. And then, the natives show up. Suddenly, the dirt takes on a more crimson shade. It's a brutal cutscene that establishes at least one thing: this game is not for children. It probably establishes something else regarding the plot, but for the time being, agape jaws are in order.

The action then fast forwards to Montana, circa 1880, where players will take on the role of Colton White, a frontiersman who goes from hunting with his father Ned, to taking on the role of vengeful renegade. Since my last Activision press conference with THAW left me too distracted with the beauty of next-gen hardware and graphics, I opted to play on the PS2 version to focus more on both gameplay and what most people will realistically be buying this holiday season. Not that I didn't get a taste of next-gen goodness, but for what it's worth, the gameplay is what's most important in this case.

The training level/introduction lets players step gently into the role of gunslinger. Colton (or Cole, as everyone refers to him) is out on the hunt with Ned. During this level, players will learn how to shoot, how to "Quick Draw" (a first-person bullet-time that involves a click of the left analog stick to target, then fire), how to fend off close attacks (a trusty knife, for the inquisitive), and how to move around a level without making too much noise or drawing too much attention to yourself. The shooting and targeting is fairly loose; as long as the object is in the red, you can hit it without need for excessive precision. If it's in the white, you've got to hone your lock-in on it. Cole's first test comes as Ned is attacked by a grizzly. Cole must pick up Ned's rifle and blast away while keeping himself out of the bear's range of attack. Once the beast is felled, the camera pans out toward a river, and the title credits display. It's then that the action goes from shooting animals to blasting bandits.

The next level, without divulging too much plot, finds Ned and Cole on a riverboat that's being hijacked by a group of rogues. It's a perfect opportunity to fill some bellies with hot lead (Quick Draw refills as you kill more people) and learn that whiskey seems to have strong medicinal purposes for our anti-hero. It's also prime time for demonstrating the quirks with the game that aren't bad, but could stand a little ironing before release. Sometimes the close combat doesn't work as smoothly and intuitively as it could, and the camera angles can be a little funny. Hopefully, they're little things that can be worked out before the title goes gold. At another point, Cole commandeers a steamboat and must shoot down boats of would-be marauders. It's a lot of fun, and manages to show the reality of what happens when a cannonball hits a ship. More than a few villains died horribly after being hit with a fiery ball before their boat exploded. Eventually, enough bandits make it aboard to force Cole off the ship.